Messi

by Guillem Balague

  Football is an action-reaction sport and teams therefore gradually changed their strategies as Leo changed his. When he played as a winger, the full-back would take care of him. On top of that, as Pep said at a press conference in Buenos Aires: ‘He had the touchline, which is the best defender around.’

  ‘In the Copa del Rey match when they knocked us out, he played mainly down the right,’ explains Fernando Navarro, ex-Barcelona and now at Sevilla. ‘You always try to show him outside as he is left-footed, that’s less dangerous. In the second half, I tried to send him outside but he took a shot which hit the post. And my keeper, Andrés Palop, shouted at me: “show him inside, Fernando.” In the next piece of play he ran at me again, went inside and hit the post again. And I say to Palop: “Andrés, don’t tell me where to go because he will still dribble past me!”’

  ‘I faced him many times, he wore number thirty for the first few, I remember because I have the shirt safe at home,’ explains the Argentinian former Zaragoza player Leonardo Ponzio in El Gráfico. ‘You went to defend against him knowing what he could do to you. As for precautions. At the Camp Nou you couldn’t take any, because the pitch is so big … But at our stadium, if you gather around him and mark him with two men, and are always close to him, you could keep him under wraps a bit more.’

  In his magnificent matches still as a winger, nobody knew how to stop him apart from committing fouls: he would easily get past his man in one on ones, so defensive midfielders started to collaborate. ‘Even if you think you know what he is going to do, he is so quick and his timing so good that he becomes almost infallible,’ admits Fernando Navarro. ‘He waits for the opportune moment to change direction. How many times has he scored that goal when he starts on the right, and drives inside, further inside, and further inside, almost ending up on the opposite wing and shoots into the far corner? Many times. And it’s still hard to stop him.’

  ‘When he was close to me,’ remembers Ponzio, ‘I wouldn’t say to him: “Don’t go past me any more, we are both from Newell’s.” And if they were winning 4–0, I would say: “Take it down a gear, that’s enough.” He would listen to me, but never took the suggestion on board.’

  When he went on his diagonal runs, at the end of the Rijkaard era and in Guardiola’s first year, the tactical problem was his own team-mates: he would go past opponents at such speed that his own side would hinder him en route to the goal. His team-mates had to learn how to make space for him, and over time the obvious solution was for the number 9, who was in the space that Leo needed, to disappear.

  When he finally moved into the middle, the difficulty the opposition had was deciding who would mark him, who would push out to him when he had the ball: the centre-backs preferred to wait for him on the edge of the area but he had already started his run by then, and, with his skill, it was easier for him to get past them: as for the central midfielder, he would be overwhelmed by the presence of more Barcelona players than his own team-mates.

  ‘Speaking about defensive tactics against Messi at his best is of little use,’ says ex-Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido. ‘They have all been tried out: he has been man-marked, deep defences, a high line … no tactic has worked against Messi at his best.’

  ‘He is too good to be man-marked,’ says Gio van Bronckhorst. ‘He always finds an escape route in the one on one.’ His compatriot Mark Van Bommel, who shared the dressing room with Messi in the 2005−06 season, has a solution: ‘Sometimes, when he gets too cocky, I tackle him fiercely. The little brat likes to nutmeg you. He did it to me twice on one occasion, so I went in on him with a full-blooded tackle. Rijkaard was furious. We can’t do that stuff in training. But you can in a match!’ Paolo Montero, Uruguay international and ex-Juventus, agrees: ‘The only way is the old-school one: kicking him off the park, it’s the only way I can see.’

  Teams were aware that they could not just mark Messi but had to defend against Barcelona as a whole. They started bunching up down the middle and leaving the wings free for Guardiola’s outfit: they could only do damage from there with balls into the box, but the blaugranas did not have a striker capable of winning aerial battles.

  So, in May 2011, Manchester United had a choice of defensive strategies.

  For that final at Wembley, Barcelona were able to count on Éric Abidal, who had played a few minutes of the semi-final against Real Madrid in one of the most emotional moments of the season. The French player had had an operation on a liver tumour in March. He started against Manchester United.

  PG: In the second final against Manchester United we knew one another much better; we had been together for three years and played slightly more aware of the match’s relevance: the first was like a present for everyone. Faced with the threat of an ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano which would delay flights, we had to go to London earlier. That provided us with four whole days for ourselves, some time to relax, something which was very rare. We were far from Barcelona and the pressure from fans, friends and family. We were delighted to be able to train at Arsenal’s training ground, and we had time to prepare ourselves properly, to think about what we had to do, without leaving any loose ends. In the final, it’s more than obvious that we played well and were the better team. The first final in Rome was more even, but in the second at Wembley, we were better.

  GB: You made another tactical change after ten minutes, by dropping Leo into Xavi’s zone in midfield and the latter alongside Busquets to build from the back in superior numbers, always looking to have one Barcelona player more than the rival in each part of the pitch. Or was it the players’ decision based on how the match was going?

  PG: At Wembley, United already knew that we were going to look to dominate midfield, because we always played that way. The thing is it’s difficult to stop: you force the centre-back to go out of position into unfamiliar territory.

  GB: The players understood what was required in the match …

  PG: Xavi naturally dropped back when needed. There is little you can teach a player like Xavi. Just whisper things to him. He knows the rest already.

  Guardiola asked the team to be themselves, to be more Barcelona than ever, faithful to the style.

  28 May 2011. Champions League final. Barcelona 3–1 Manchester United. Wembley Stadium, London

  Barcelona: Valdés; Alvés (Puyol, 88th minute), Piqué, Mascherano, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Pedro (Afellay, 92nd minute), Messi and Villa (Keita, 86th minute). Subs not used: Olazábal, Bojan, Adriano and Thiago Alcántara.

  Manchester United; Van der Sar; Fabio (Nani, 69th minute), Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra; Valencia, Carrick (Scholes, 76th minute), Giggs, Park; Rooney and Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández. Subs not used: Kuszczak, Owen, Anderson, Smalling and Fletcher.

  Goals: 1–0, 27th minute: Pedro. 1–1, 34th minute: Rooney. 2–1, 54th minute: Messi. 3–1, 69th minute: Villa.

  Luis Martín, El País: Generous as always, Messi played for the team rather than himself, he combined well and looked for damaging inside passes. He managed it, it was a nightmare, a devil against the Red Devils. The Manchester United players could not get near him. Leo has goals entrenched within him, so he did not leave without his prize: a rasping strike from outside the box to which Van der Sar could not even react. ‘I had the space, the goalie came out and luckily it went in,’ described Messi himself. It may not have been the most beautiful goal, but it put Barcelona ahead when they needed it most. He shouted like never before while running to the corner to celebrate. On the way he kicked a microphone and an advertising hoarding as he almost always does. And although he did not jump into the stands to hug the fans, he was close to doing so.

  Tweets by Martí Perarnau that day: Shutting down the Divine Trinity was the key for MU. They never managed it. They left the doors open and Xavi, Iniesta and Messi had a stroll in the park … Quick touches by Xavi, Iniesta and Messi to unsettle the opposition and outnumber them. When they see weakness and tiredness, they strike … Pep and Xavi are the guardians of th
e footballing language. Messi and Iniesta, the magic potion. Puyol, the captain of values. The pillars of blaugrana territory … eighty-ninth minute: eight players from the youth team on the pitch, three more on the bench, three more in the stands. La Masía, more than a youth team … There are question marks over the future, of course. Pep’s future is one of them. Messi’s hunger is another. Guardiola sent a double message out to the club: don’t bring anyone in who will disturb Messi. Bring players in who will support, surround and help Messi to keep growing.

  It was the complete match by Messi and by the team. Exquisite in terms of link-up play and with Leo’s decisive influence. The Champions League had just been won by possibly the best team in history. And they did it through quality, but also intelligence. ‘Based on how the game was going, Pep would say to Leo: “Go down the middle” or whatever,’ says Pedro. ‘And we would change our shape straightaway, all very quickly. We worked really hard on tactics all that week which is why things came naturally to us.’

  At Wembley, it was not about Messi’s usual game, diagonal runs or dribbling. His role in that game was to generate a numerical advantage in midfield with him, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta and Abidal when he pushed up on the wing. Leo helped Barcelona have 68 per cent possession and 22 shots on goal. Manchester United could only muster four. He scored the second goal and was involved in the third. ‘We played incredibly well. I don’t think we were aware of just what we were achieving today,’ said Leo that night.

  Sir Alex Ferguson went onto the pitch to congratulate Leo.

  ‘We were never really able to control Messi, it was something we had already been warned about. We did not manage to close them down enough in midfield to neutralise them,’ he explained later.

  PG: I have learned over time that the great coaches are people coaches. Tactics are very important, but the Fergusons, Mourinhos, and others are all great at dealing with the personalities they find in the dressing room.

  GB: Despite two years of saying he knew how to play against Barcelona after the defeat in Rome, Ferguson didn’t know how to neutralise your game.

  PG: They didn’t go out there to defend. When we were good, it was difficult to stop us. We would pass the ball around and gradually push them back. They did not decide to defend in their area, but we managed to push them back. Their idea was to press us on the ball which is how it was in the first 10 or 15 minutes both in Rome and London. But we knew how to create superiority and Manchester United, a great team, lost control of the match.

  Guardiola went round hugging everyone and, when he came to Leo, he thanked him.

  ‘He’s the best player I’ve seen and will ever see,’ stated Guardiola about Messi in a press conference, repeating a statement which he had made at the Spanish Super Cup in August 2009. ‘We could compete at a very high level, but without him we would not make the jump in quality … I hope he doesn’t get bored and that we are capable of making him feel comfortable because when that happens, Leo doesn’t fail.’

  Éric Abidal played the whole match. Carles Puyol lent him the captain’s armband so he could lift the European Cup, the fourth in the club’s history.

  Messi was named man of the match and, after the celebrations on the pitch, he spoke to the press: ‘We want to carry on winning things. Today we were much better and deserved to win. Now we’re on holiday. Well, I’m going to the Copa América, but first let’s celebrate.’

  Lionel Messi went to Argentina to rest, and then to suffer in the Copa América.

  9. THE FIVE GOALS AGAINST BAYER LEVERKUSEN

  A month and a half after Wembley, Leo Messi’s Argentina were beaten on penalties in the quarter-finals of the Copa América that took place on his home turf. ‘The Flea’ had scored 53 goals with Barcelona that season but not a single one with the national side since March 2009, more than two years ago. And the criticism became fierce; even former professionals had a field day with Leo: ‘Diego Maradona had a different personality, he was overwhelming, contagious; I can’t see that in Leo Messi,’ Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina’s historic goalscorer declared.

  When the dismissal of Sergio Batista and the appointment of Alejandro Sabella were confirmed, the new national coach travelled to Barcelona to chat with Pep Guardiola who advised him to avoid too much conversation with Leo, to surround him with team-mates who respected him and would make his job easier, and to listen to the few words that he did say and never, ever, to substitute him, ‘not even to receive a standing ovation’.

  Leo returned from his holiday a few days later due to his participation in the Copa América, to a Barcelona who had signed Cesc from Arsenal and Alexis from Udinese, and were to face José Mourinho’s Real Madrid, the same day that José decided to point a finger in the wrong place.

  14 August 2011. Super Cup first leg. Real Madrid 2–2 Barcelona

  Barcelona: Valdés; Alvés, Piqué, Abidal, Adriano, Xavi Hernández, Keita, Iniesta, Messi, Villa, Rodríguez.

  Real Madrid: Casillas; Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Marcelo; Xabi Alonso, Khedira; Özil, Di María, Ronaldo; Benzema.

  Goals: 1–0. 13th minute: Özil. 1–1 35th minute: Villa. 1–2. 45th minute: Messi. 2–2. 53rd minute: Xabi Alonso.

  Diego Torres, El País: The last thing known about Lionel Messi Cuccittini before catching up with the pre-season, on Monday of last week, was that he spent a few days with his girlfriend Antonella on a yacht anchored in Formentera. Since then, exactly seven days have passed. Five training sessions were more than enough for him to get into shape to come to the Bernabéu and play in the Spanish Super Cup. Forget friendlies. Don’t mention summer tours. Let’s play proper games. That is exactly what he did.

  Messi only did one thing in the first half-hour: a low pass to Villa in behind Ramos. The pass was perfect like a curved missile meeting the attacker who had lost his marker in a made-to-measure coupling. The referee blew the whistle for offside. In the thirty-fifth minute, Messi reloaded his left foot, this time from a more central position.

  José Sámano, El País: When the omens predicted a storm for Barcelona, the game took an unexpected turn. Messi, until that point, had been invisible. But Messi who never needs much encouragement to play, finally turned up and Villa, with his side’s first shot, hit the ball with a banana-shaped trajectory. The ball took an impossible swerve, flying past Casillas, leaving Madrid bewildered and incredulous. Messi, cunning as he is, realised his rivals were tumbling and took advantage of the lack of co-ordination between Khedira and Pepe before scoring.

  The matter would be concluded in the second leg.

  17 August 2011. Super Cup second leg. Barcelona 3–2 Real Madrid

  Barcelona: Valdés; Alvés, Piqué, Mascherano, Abidal, Busquets (Keita, 85th minute), Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro (Cesc, 82nd minute), Villa (Adriano, 73rd minute) and Messi.

  Real Madrid: Casillas; Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Coentrao; Xabi Alonso, Khedira (Marcelo, 45th minute); Di María (Higuaín, 63rd minute), Özil (Kaká, 78th minute), Ronaldo; and Benzema.

  Goals: 1–0, 15th mimute: Iniesta. 1– 1, 19th minute: Ronaldo.2–1, 44th minute: Messi. 2–2, 82nd minute: Benzema. 3–2, 88th minute: Messi.

  José Sámano, El País: Messi is unique. The Argentinian resolved the Super Cup clash in Barcelona’s favour after a fierce duel with Madrid. No Madrid side at the moment can live with Messi, the best finisher in their history. Not even when Mourinho’s side apply themselves as never before against a Barcelona that is still a little stiff. But he is unique; with Messi up front, the azulgrana side plays with freedom.

  Cayetano Ros, El País: Messi, angry, edgy, motivated, the Argentinian notched two more goals against his favourite rivals, avoiding extra time against a fresher Real Madrid. Seeing himself shackled by a man-marking exercise by Pepe, he dropped into midfield where he could take in some air. There he disengaged himself from Khedira before sending a pass to Iniesta who opened the game up, making it a priceless spectacle. Although not yet match fit, he still managed to find the breath to create another work of a
rt with Piqué: the latter’s backheel left him one on one with Casillas. This time he resolved the matter with a neat little dink with his right foot over the outstretched body of the Madrid goalkeeper. Messi finished the job with a volley that is worthy of the Super Cup. Santiago Siguero, Marca: Messi beat Real Madrid. Practically on his own, the Argentinian once again destroyed a team that has found Messi to be its curse. The thing is it was a good Real Madrid this time, better collectively than Barcelona, but individually Messi wins the comparison with Cristiano Ronaldo. He is the Di Stéfano of FC Barcelona.

  That season that had started so well became a time of bad news that left the squad emotionally exhausted. In November 2011 Tito Vilanova discovered that he had cancer of the parotid gland. In March of the following year, the club announced that Abidal would have to undergo a liver transplant following the return of a carcinogenic tumour. The full-back lost 19 kilos in weight and had to be operated on no fewer than five times. But just a year later he was back on the pitch.

  Leo also suffered in silence the news that a close family member had cancer. The contrast between the joy of winning titles and these reality checks was difficult to bear, but Messi did all he could to avoid the setbacks becoming apparent on the training ground. Suddenly the world had become a complex, grown-up place. He gravitated ever closer to his family and distanced himself from anything he considered trivial and unimportant. He also drew apart from some of Pep’s collaborators, who attempted to get close to him during that confusing period in his life.

  While the tumour was growing inside him, Abidal was named as a starter for the World Club final against the Santos of Neymar Jr, who, it was said, could very soon become one of the greatest players in the world. Messi had another target: to maintain the status quo. Partly because of the arrival of Cesc Fàbregas, Guardiola looked for the maximum expression of his football ideal in putting on five midfielders and Messi, who was becoming a mixture of a number 8 (a creator), a 9 (scorer) and a 10 (assistant). Dani Alvés and Thiago would play as false wingers in a footballing hall of mirrors in which no one was what they seemed to be.